The colour of Summer

Over the last few days we visited some friends in country Victoria. The 8 hour drive down happened to coincide with a 40C or so temperatures making the trip seem even longer. Pretty much the entire route was similar in colour to this photo. Brown ground cover with bluey grey gum (eucalyptus) trees.
They live some distance from the nearest town and, like us, use rainwater as their sole water source.
This photo was taken about 7 am with some clouds promising a visit. They did and we had rain of which no-one complained.
One of the first things the children did was ask to play in the creek. We waited until around 4:00pm after the worst heat of the day and they all rushed in.
Luckily some farms downstream had requested water to be released from the dam upstream so there was water in the creek. Although we didn't worry too much about snakes as the ground cover was reasonably thin, Peter wasn't impressed with getting nipped by a Yabbie (also known as a Crawdad in Georgia)
Even so they came out quite muddy and we washed them off with a hose before they were allowed back into the house.
Compare this creek to Coopers Creek (the green photo) we visited when we were in the US (here, here and here). This is at the equivalent time in the Summer.
This is one of the things we found so startling about the seasons we experienced during our stay in the US. The GREEN of Spring and Summer make an astounding difference in one's view of the changing seasons.

Unforgettable Fudge

We obtained this recipe from family friends in Melbourne and it makes marvellous creamy fudge. I tried getting a photo of the fudge alone but those hands couldn't stop!

Ingredients:
500g (16 oz) Milk Chocolate (*)
1 tin sweetened condensed milk
50g (2 tblsp) butter (**)
125g (1/2 cup) peanut butter

Method:
Put the lot in a saucepan and stir over low heat until it all melts and then place into lined tray. Once set in the fridge cut into small squares and stand back.
You can add in sultanas or raisins and crunchy peanut butter (as we did for the batch in the photo).

(*) Chocolate - In Australia Cadbury's works a treat. In the US you could use Hershey's (we wouldn't) but you would be better using the Sam's Club Belgian chocolate ($1 a bar at Walmart when we were there last).
(**) shortening and margarine are NOT alternatives. This works much better with real butter.

Homeschooling Carnival Week 2

There is another Homeschooling Carnival now up at On the Company Porch with over 65 entries from homeschooling families around the world (including us of course!)
These carnivals provide a great way to discover the huge variety of families sharing their stories from around the world.

Australia is funner

Clare was having a chat with Grandma yesterday over tea. Grandma asked her how she enjoyed America.
Clare's face brightened and she replied cheerfully, "America was fun!"
"What about Australia?" Grandma then asked.
"Oh," Clare replied with a serious look, "Australia is funner."

A treasure table

During our visit to some friends in New York we discovered a table which had a glass top and a deep drawer. They kept all their nature discoveries inside - on view for all and protected too.
One of our friends here is a fine furniture maker and we explained what we wanted. He has lots of brothers and sisters and understood our need for strength and safety as well.
So we returned home the other day to find this beautiful table in the centre of our living room. It is made from a lovely hardwood and the glass top is 10mm thick with double laminating and balcony strength. Lucky for that as when we next had a look Rose was dancing on the top!
The drawer is hidden with the handle being only a groove underneath the base.
When I was taking this photo I tried giving the table a quick nudge with my foot. No way! It requires a determined effort to move.
So our collection of treasures now has a home for all to admire.

A day at the races

This last weekend we went to the Bowral Agricultural Show. This is the season for Agricultural shows which normally have a variety of events such as horse and livestock competitions, gardening, races, entertainment, sideshows and a pavilion whereby all sorts of things are put on show and judged. It is sort of like a State Fair on a smaller scale for each town with a showground.
The Bowral Show was smaller than most and is just beginning to diversify from horse stuff with a small pavilion competition. We entered a variety of items in the photography, children's crafts (lego creations), cross stitch and cushion sections. The boys had Lego creations of their own design of a Mumakil (large Lord of the Rings elephant), and two Star Wars ships. They scooped 1st, 2nd and 3rd prize.
We all won a collection of 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes (no money - just certificates). It was fun putting things in the show and having our work on display. Also it means we can write in our school diary "Craft - Done!"

The top picture is the best we could do to get Rose with sunglasses, but pointing was just not on her agenda!

We also took the oppotunity to watch some show jumping and other horse events but most of the interesting ones were on day two when we weren't there. I was able to have a good test of our new camera which can take some fine action photos! This horse and rider was caught in mid leap with hardly any blurring. Cool!

Spotty Shaggy Dog

The stitch along continues.
As always you can click for more detail.

Lana is eagerly awaiting the next pattern. Can you guess where that part goes?

The Perfect Home

We have been having a chat with other homeschooling families regarding the "disasters" that seem to strike with frightening regularity in our homes. As many homeschooling families are spread far and wide a common method of understanding the inner workings of other families is via blogs, web sites, articles or email groups. There is only one problem with this method.
These sources mostly record the happier things in life. Like any journal, or even our own memories, we record the good things. If our memories were dominated by the "disasters" it would be very easy to become discouraged. In fact those type of books or sites have limited appeal.

We are not destined to have a "perfect" home. The home in which everything has a place, everything is in that place and the furniture, walls and floors are spotless and pristine will not be our house. "Home and Gardens" is unlikely to drop in for an article.
Thank goodness for that! Our home is a co-operative affair. All family members contribute to the cleanliness and order (as well as mess and disorder) and that is as it should be.
I have used the word disasters above in inverted commas ("") because they are really just the normal day to day disturbances of the plans we make. "The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry" should be the basis of all our plans.
In reading the history of our adventures in this blog we have mentioned many incidents which could be called "disasters" but in reality they are better described as growth experiences, or better still, "Shared Experiences". It is these unplanned events - and how we handle them - that make family life the adventure it really is.
The benefit of homeschooling is that you are actually there for more of these events.
Each of these experiences provides an opportunity to teach and learn for all involved. Staring a conversation with, "Remember when xxx cut his head, or yyy broke her arm" leads to the memories of how everyone handled the situation and even more importantly how it turned out OK after all.
(BTW The photo above is of our two youngest "helping" clean up the kitchen)

Movie Etiquette

Once we had decided California wouldn't work as a celebration of the last day of Christmas, the children were willing to spend their own pocket money (saved over the last month or so plus birthday money) to see Narnia again. So we invited Lana's parents to join us and we all went to the movies.
Peter (7) is not used to visiting the cinema and so thinks of it as a large living room. When a question or comment occurs to him he just tells us. Loudly.
"When will the stone table break?"
"Their mum's staying behind to make guns because their dad is already fighting."
... and so on.
I sat next to him to encourage him to be quiet(er).
We were glad to be able to use our bus to take all of us in the one vehicle.

No Standing

Lana's dad seems to have taken the parking sign very literally - "No Standing" indeed!

Eric has now learned how to do this neat balancing trick too. It is all in how you hold yourself up using the pole with your arms locked against your body. When you get the hang of it you can hold yourself at right angles to the pole for some time.

A quick trip to California?

The feast of Epiphany (the coming of the wise men) is celebrated by the Church today (the closest Sunday to 6 January). The children had lamented that our 12 days of compulsory Christmas celebrations ended on Friday, but now figured they could celebrate one last time! "OK" we said, "How will we celebrate?"
"Can we go out somewhere?" one asked.
"Where?" we replied.
"California!" yelled out Clare (4). We probably can't get there today, but it does show that our geography table is working well!

Leap frog

When we were playing at the park, the children decided we all should play leap frog. "Sure" I said, "Why not?"
So we all got into a line and crouched over. The aim is for the rear one to jump over all the others until he gets to the front. Then the new rearmost player does the same. Normally this is a race between two teams but the children like to just see how fast they can move forward.
The problem is the varying sizes from little Rose to Ariel and me.
I had to help Rose over the others and the others had great difficulty jumping onto/over me.
Still, it was good fun!

B2 wins in the spotting game

B2 is very quick to compete in the spotting game when we are out.

This lovely red bug gains B2 1.5 points and matches her top. A double bonus!

(Cross posted at the "B Where's?" blog)

S7 shows us her Joey

None of the B clan were available so we roped in S7 to show us the joey they had rescued from its dead mother's pouch. The joey is quite happy in the converted jumper/sweater and is growing stronger every day.

We considered putting sunglasses on the Joey but felt it was allowed to exemption from the rule.

(Cross posted at the "B Where's?" blog)

B6 shows us a hanging rock

Some local wag decided to add interest to a local road sign. It was B6's turn to show us the rock.

(The weather was a lot different from the 45C (115F) temperature on New Year's day!)

(Cross posted at the "B Where's?" blog)

100 Words you ought to know

The editors of the American Heritage® dictionaries have compiled a list of 100 words they recommend every high school graduate should know. These include words such as abjure, lugubrious, deciduous, circumnavigate and 96 more.

To make it easy the Mental Multivitamin blog compiled a study list complete with definitions so you can use them correctly too!

Updated: Fixed a typo! It's hard enough knowing 100 words when they are correctly spelled!

Homeschool Carnival

Over at Why Homeschool? is a Carnival of Homeschooling. This is a post which links to lots of other homeschooling blogs providing for quite a wide variety of ideas. Bruggie Tales was the first post mentioned with our "Why we Homeschool" post.

A carnival is a great way to discover new blogs and web sites on a certain area of interest. Jump over and have a look.

Tabletop Geography

Lana wanted to use some very nice place mats she had made but didn't fancy the idea of washing them every day. To solve this problem we purchased some medium thickness plastic allowing about 15cm (6") overlap on each side to place over the table and put the placemats underneath.
This worked great. Then at Christmas we had some special patchwork Christmas decorations which could now be seen but not damaged.
Now we have placed wall maps of the world and the US under the plastic. In a few weeks we'll rotate the maps with ones of Australia and Europe and so on. The children have already been announcing, "I'm having dinner in the Pacific Ocean", or "Pass the Idaho" (where the potatoes are). Whenever something needs to be passed it is referred to by location, not name. It's amazing how quick all the children are learning their countries!
In addition, as the maps are already laminated, we have drawn our trip routes on them. We have spotted the children tracing the route and commenting on what we did along the way and people we met.
Placing them under the plastic on the table top has really brought the maps into full use.

Procrastinating the good way

Paul Graham has written a fine article on Procrastination and the trick to doing the hard yards in your best work.
The key is to ask yourself three questions:

1. What are the most important problems in your field?
2. Are you working on one of them?
3. Why not?

So why are you waiting? Read it now...

(Thanks to Marginal Revolution for the pointer)

A hot and fiery start to 2006

Whilst we were sweltering in 45C (113F) heat with 50 knot winds and 15% humidity yesterday, bushfighters across NSW and Victoria were fighting many blazes. (The photo is from the ABC news site) Lana's dad and the other members of our volunteer fire brigade stayed near home and in radio/phone range. We attended a day to celebrate New Year's Day and the feast of "Mary Mother of God" with a bunch of other homeschooling families.
All awaited the cool Southerly which finally arrived at about 8:30pm. Meanwhile the pool was in constant use and plenty of drinks were drunk. Lana noted that "You know it's hot when you drink all day but don't go to the bathroom." Sweat was almost constant.
Last night we had some light rain and this morning fog. It was very refreshing to have such a cool start to the day!